Hiked up from Miner's Basin and did 8.5 miles round-trip in 8.5 hours. Losing the elevation in the saddle between point 12,163′ and Mt. Waas kinda sucked, as did the loose scree going up Waas. Saw a couple of black bears on the way back, only a quarter-mile from the trailhead. After a tense moment they moved off into the trees and left us alone. Full trip report and photos on my blog here: http://udink.org/2014/07/01/mt-waas/

Took the Miners Basin trail from the entrance to the campground. Not too much snow to deal with. Summited Waas and then traversed over to Pilot Peak and down to the Dry Fork Mill Creek trail. The wind was really intense on the ridges.

Left my Black Diamond Carbon Fiber trekking poles near the summit before the awesome glissade back to the road. They are not right on the summit I believe they are a little south on the shoulder before the ridge drops off and gets steeper and better for glissading. Great day, just wish I wouldn't have realized I left them when switching to my ice axe. Contact me if you find them Dustin.Erickson@imail.org. Or at least put them to good use!

Parked about .3 miles S of the Burro Pass TH and climbed Manns, 11849, Pilot (12220), Green (12163), Mount Waas, Castle Peak (12044), and La Sal Peak (12001). I returned the same way except that I skirted the tops of the peaks whenever I could. On the way back, there was a big thunderstorm parked just E of Mount Waas. Hoping to avoid it, I traversed across Mt Waas's west face and hope to never do that again as every step had to be carefully placed to avoid starting a rock slide. It took 45 minutes to go 1/4 of a mile. The rest of the hike went great and was a lot of fun.

Climbed the ridge from Geyser Pass- Tomasaki to La Sal Peak, then dropped to the Trans La Sal trail and made it to Warner Lake. Hitched a ride back to Geyser Pass with some very kind elk hunters. By then it was 11 PM, and while I was ready for the climb up to my car, the thought of it was beyond depressing.

Climbed from Beaver Basin. It took more time to drive the road from Don's Lake than to actually climb the peak. Not really, but it seemed like it. Found a great campsite at the end of Beaver Basin near an old rusty car from the 1930's. As expected, lots of loose, shifting talus and scree

weather was reported to be better. by 10 AM lightning was smacking within 100 feet of us first on La Sal Peak then on the steep west slope of Waas as we tried to stay low back to Beaver Basin. I need to go back to Castle Peak for a a better weather view. Ideally on skis... anyone in for April 20, 2010?

Climbed this in beautiful weather. It is amazing how you can look down at the canyons and rock towers in Castle Valley and they look so diminutive. Then when you drive down to them on your way out, they look so majestic and inaccessible.

#1 9-0-13 Brent & I drove a Honda Pilot as far as I figured was reasonable and hiked the rest of the way up. Fall colors were astonishingly beautiful. We appreciated the switchbacks in the talus leading to the Waas summit from the saddle. I'll add some details in a brief trip report as soon as I can. What views from the summit! #2 5-24-13 Mit wunderbarer Gesellschaft und viel weichem Schnee auf dem Weg und viel Wind oben im Sattel.